In so-called hot-fill packages, a container is filled with hot fluid product and capped while the fluid product is still hot. As the fluid product cools, a reduction in fluid volume creates a vacuum within the package—i.e., an internal pressure that is less than the surrounding atmospheric pressure. An object of the present invention is to provide a molded plastic container that is particularly adapted for hot-fill applications and is contoured for easy handling such as by a small child.
A hot-fill container in accordance with one aspect of the present invention is of one-piece plastic construction that includes a base, a sidewall extending from the base, a dome connected to the sidewall and a neck finish extending from the dome. The sidewall has an hourglass shape as viewed in side elevation with ends connected to the base and the dome. The sidewall includes a circumferential series of vacuum panels that are flexible inwardly with respect to the remainder of the sidewall. The vacuum panels preferably are rectangular as viewed in side elevation and concave as viewed tangentially of the container.
A plastic hot-fill container in accordance with another aspect of the present invention includes a base, a sidewall extending from the base, a dome connected to the sidewall and a neck finish extending from the dome. The neck finish, the dome, the sidewall and the base are coaxial, and the dome and base are circular in plan view. The sidewall includes a series of circumferentially spaced axially extending ribs having outer surfaces on an hourglass-shaped surface of revolution around the axis of the container, and a circumferential series of vacuum panels that are flexibly connected to the ribs. The vacuum panels are rectangular as viewed in side elevation, are concave as viewed tangentially of the container axis, and are radially inset from the ribs. The base and the dome have maximum diameters, which preferably are equal, and the sidewall is recessed radially inwardly from such maximum diameters. A pair of circumferential channels preferably connect respective ends of the sidewall to the base and the dome.